


Of all the Trees in the Wood

by BroadwayBaggins



Category: Little Women (2019), Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, F/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22164310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayBaggins/pseuds/BroadwayBaggins
Summary: Sallie gets a Christmas tree, and Meg gets a surprise. Written for a prompt on tumblr.
Relationships: John Brooke/Margaret March
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Of all the Trees in the Wood

Meg wiped her dusty hands on her apron and stepped back to survey the room. Visiting Sallie was always both a treat and a chore, for although she did enjoy getting to catch up with her friend, she was always filled with a shameful mix of shame and envy when she looked around Sallie’s house and compared it to her own. She knew in her heart that her envy was misplaced, for she was so much happier than Sallie could ever be, but it was hard to look around at all of Sallie and Ned’s finery and then come trudging through the December slush to her own little Dovecote. Today had been more trying than most visits, because Meg happened to pay Sallie a call on the very day that a Christmas tree was being delivered to the Moffat house.

“We’re the only ones with one on the whole street!” Sallie exclaimed as they watched a pair of men struggle to bring in the towering pine through the ornate double doors. “Imagine, just like Queen Victoria!”

Meg knew of the custom, of course, if only vaguely. Her family had decorated for Christmas in other ways, and she watched Sallie’s servants bustle to and fro, carrying candlesticks and cranberry garlands, with a strange mix of fascination and awe. She had had to leave before she could see the tree in its full glory, but she had promised Sallie that she would be back to see it soon. Her return to Dovecote was filled with daydreams of rich red ribbons and enormous trees that would never fit into her home, which now seemed so small and drab in comparison to Sallie’s. Upon coming inside and hanging her cloak by the fire to dry as the snow melted, Meg had surveyed her parlor, envisioning a small tree between it and the fireplace even going so far as to try to drag the old settee a few inches to the left to see if that would make a difference. But no matter how she rearranged, she couldn’t figure out a way to fit even the smallest of trees into their sweet little house.

She sat down irritably, then tried to imaging what Jo would tell her if she were there. _“Well, who wants an old tree in their house anyway? It will probably just drop needles all over the place, and cause more trouble than it’s worth. And you and poor John will trip over each other, with all the furniture topsy-turvy!”_

No, Jo wouldn’t understand, and John probably wouldn’t either. Meg turned her thoughts to more important matters–namely, getting dinner on the table–and probably wouldn’t have brought it up again if John hadn’t nearly tripped later over the leg of the settee that she’d forgotten to move back. “I thought that looked out of place,” he’d joked as Meg spluttered an apology, trying not to laugh at the perturbed look on his face. “Why did you move it? Thinking of making some radical changes to the design of the parlor?”

“I was at Sallie’s today, and she was having a Christmas tree delivered,” Meg said softly. “I was just seeing if there was a chance that we could fit one too. There’s a small little evergreen at the end of the road that might do. But I couldn’t quite work out how to make it all fit.”

“I’m sorry, Meg,” John said with a sigh–a sigh that contained more than he could say, all the apologies for the things he could not give her.

“It’s all right. My father would say that it was just an experiment. Let’s talk of something else now,” she said, and the matter was forgotten.

Until the next night, when she walked into her home to find it filled with evergreen branches–artfully draped on every windowsill, bursting from vases on the surface of every table, twisted into a magnificent garland that wound its way around the banister. The whole house smelled like an enchanted forest at the heart of winter. Meg stood there, melting snow onto the floor, and stared.

“I still couldn’t quite manage a full tree,” John admitted quietly from behind her. “But I hope this will do.”

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, as if speaking any louder would break the spell and cause it all to vanish. “How did you do it?”

“Well, I had a bit of help,” he said with a grin.

“Jo.”

Who else?” He smiled and stepped forward, running a hand over one of the branches on the table. “You know, I’ve always liked evergreen.”

“Have you?”

“Oh yes. They stay green all winter long–like my love for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Long time, no see, fanfic-land!
> 
> I, like everyone, adored the new Little Women movie. I got this drabble prompt on tumblr and decided to post it here, too! Hope you enjoy.  
> Title comes from the traditional carol "The Holly and the Ivy"


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